...because accuracy is not always their forte.
A case in point would be a late 19th century work of the Revds. J. Berington and J. Kirk,
The Faith of Catholics, Confirmed by Scripture and Attested by the Fathers of the First Five Centuries of the Church, three volumes, Third Enlarged Edition, with Preface, Corrections, and Additions by the Rt. Rev. Monsignor Capel, D.D. (New York: Fr. Pustet & Co., 1909), originally published in 1884 I believe.
One example that stands out is Berington’s mistranslation of the word
ἀνάγραπτοι when attempting to cite a quote by Gregory of Nyssa (from his work
Contra Eunomius, or
Refutatio confessionis Eunomii as it is otherwise named) to prove the authority of unwritten tradition. Berington's misrepresentation of Gregory of Nyssa may be viewed at the link just below...
The Faith of Catholics: Confirmed by ... - Google Books
In fact, if you scroll down that page of the book, you can see in the footnote (#2) that our good Romanist friend provides the Greek of Gregory for anyone who knows it to spot his blunder. Only the ignorant would go away impressed with the author's industry.
The word ἀνάγραπτοι does not mean “unwritten,” but the very opposite, “recorded” or “committed to writing.” See William Goode, The Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, 2nd edition, Vol. 3, (London: John Henry Jackson, publisher, 1853), p. 142. You may also consult G. W. H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969), p. 100 toward the middle of the first column for the correct translation.
Here is Goode's translation of this passage from Gregory of Nyssa in contrast to Berington's...
Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-395): Let him say, whence he derives the boldness to affirm this : from what divinely-inspired testimony? What Evangelist, what Apostle uttered such a saying? What prophet, or lawgiver, or patriarch, or any one else of those who were divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit,
whose words are committed to writing, taught such a phrase? We have learnt in the tradition of the faith by the Truth to believe in the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. Ought we to believe that he is created? How is it that the Truth when delivering to us the mystery has enjoined faith in the Son and not in a creature? And how is it that the divinely-inspired Apostle, while he worships Christ, declares that those who extend their worship beyond the Creator to the creature are idolaters? See William Goode,
The Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, 2nd edition, Vol. 3, (London: John Henry Jackson, publisher, 1853), p. 142.
You gotta go behind those Romanists!
DTK
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